August 2014

Published on August 12, 2014

Just Released…

Graduate Medical Education in New York: Nation’s Largest Supplier of Physicians
The Center recently conducted an analysis that quantified the contribution of New York’s graduate medical education (GME) programs to the nation’s supply of physicians. According to the study, 17% of the nation’s physicians completed residency training in New York, making it the nation’s largest supplier of physicians out of any state in the country. In 17 states outside of New York, more than 10% of the active physicians completed GME training in New York. The Center also assessed geographic variation in the distribution of physicians who trained in New York. They found that in New England, more than 17% of active physicians completed GME in New York compared to 13% of physicians in the South Atlantic region. To view the research brief, go to: nygmesuppl_2014.pdf

The Health Workforce in New York, 2014: Trends in the Supply of and Demand for Health Workers
The Center routinely monitors health care employment patterns in New York as well as indicators of health worker shortages. This report, based on 2010-2013 data, presents a trend analysis of the health workforce in New York and provides key information at state and regional levels. Health sector job growth outpaced job growth in all other employment sectors in New York, particularly in home health care and ambulatory care settings. Hospitals and health centers reported difficulty recruiting and retaining primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Health care providers in other settings across the state reported recruitment and retention difficulties for a wide array of other professions, including experienced registered nurses (RNs), clinical laboratory technologists, certified nurse aides, and licensed practical nurses. Download the report here: nytracking2014.pdf

Trends in New York Registered Nursing Graduations, 1996-2014
To understand trends in the production of new RNs in the state, the Center annually surveys the deans and directors of the state’s RN education programs. The 2013 survey found that the number of RN graduates grew by only 3% in 2012, and almost all of that growth was attributed to BSN completers. Since 2007 there has been a steady increase in the number of graduates from BSN-completer programs, who make up a growing share of RN graduates in the state. Newly trained RNs, particularly ADNs, continue to face a competitive job market. To view the full report, go to: nursinged2014.pdf

Residency Training Outcomes in New York
The Center conducts an annual survey of all physicians completing a residency or fellowship training program in New York in order to better understand demand for new physicians and the outcomes of training. In 2013, the specialties in greatest demand were urology, family medicine, dermatology, emergency medicine, and general internal medicine, while the specialties facing the weakest demand were pathology, radiology, cardiology, pediatric subspecialties, and nephrology. Well over half of newly trained physicians reported plans to leave the state for their first practice opportunity. To view the full report, go to: nyexitsurveyreport2014.pdf

Health Care Employment Projections: An Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Projections, 2012-2022
The Center recently completed an analysis of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics 10-year (2012-2022) occupational and industry projections for employment in the U.S., which are released every two years. Center staff analyzed health sector and health occupations employment and produced a report of key findings, which highlights the increasing importance of health care jobs to the country’s economy. To view the full report, go to: blsproj2014.pdf

Research Briefs on New York’s Health Workforce
The Center has produced a series of research briefs on New York’s health workforce based on data from re-registration surveys of RNs, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives. The latest briefs are described below.

New York’s Primary Care Workforce
This research brief is based on a broad assessment of primary care capacity in New York and describes the contributions of all primary care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives. The analysis found that less than one-third of all active physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in New York are primary care providers. To view the research brief, go to: nypricare2014.pdf

A Profile of Active Registered Nurses in New York
RNs who work in a variety of settings are a vital part of the state’s health workforce. An analysis of licensed RNs in New York found that not all of the state’s licensed RNs were active and not all active RNs worked in the state. There was also wide regional variation in both the distribution and educational attainment of active RNs. Further, active RNs in New York were not as diverse as the state’s population. To view the research brief, go to: nyrn2014.pdf

Works in Progress…

The Right Health Professionals in the Right Places (RP2)
The health of New Yorkers is essential to the state’s economic success. The State University of New York (SUNY) is uniquely positioned to train and educate the state’s future health workforce. RP2 seeks to partner SUNY institutions with health care providers at a regional level to assure that health workforce development is responsive to the local needs of the health sector. Specifically, SUNY is partnered in two regions: the Adirondack region, which includes Franklin, Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Warren, Washington, and Saratoga counties and the Tug Hill region, covering Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Lewis Counties. For more information about SUNY’s RP2 initiative, go to: http://system.suny.edu/healthaffairs/sunyrp2/.

As part of this effort, the Center has developed the Health Workforce Planning Data Guide designed to assist regional stakeholders in identifying their most pressing health workforce needs. The Data Guide includes information about the health status of the population, the current health workforce, and the educational pipeline. Download the guide: nys_health_workforce_planning_data_guide_2013.pdf

Presentations
Center staff, including Gaetano Forte, Margaret Langelier, David Armstrong, Tracey Continelli, and Jean Moore attended the Annual Research Meeting sponsored by AcademyHealth in San Diego, CA June 7-11, 2014. Staff presented papers and posters on health workforce research topics, including assessing the primary care capacity of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, practice barriers for certified registered nurse anesthetists in New York, factors predicting practice decisions of newly trained physicians to work as hospitalists, racial/ethnic wage disparities for hospital RNs in the U.S., the care coordination workforce in emerging models of care delivery.

Jean Moore, Center Director, attended the Central and Eastern European Conference on Health and the Environment held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from May 23-29, 2014. Dr. Moore gave two presentations, “Global Health in the 21st Century: Perspectives from the United States” and “Total Worker Health: A New Direction for Occupational Health and Safety in the United States.”

Tell us what you think…

We’d like to hear from you. Please give us feedback on our website or on any of the reports or information we have posted to it. E-mail us at chws@health.state.ny.us. Thank you.